Monday, 28 March 2011

El Bulli is a restaurant over in Spain. Open for half the year, they spend the other half coming up with new recipes. Hey, I've seen something like that with various Heston Blumenthal shows, that'll be interesting!

Well, you'd think that. But Cooking in Progress is one of those documentaries that is just filming what's going on in front of the camera with no comment... I have to say, I think in this case, it would have benefited immensely from having a commentator. Someone to help give context to the choices their making, to give structure to what's going on...

There are some moments of amusement where the head chef, Ferran Adria, doesn't react with full positivity to the other chefs' efforts, but these are occasional moment amidst the general bustlings and goings-on of the restaurant activities. And yes, there are some strange dishes that it would be great to learn more about, but we only see brief moments, nothing's really explained, and there is just this lack of connection between the cooks and the audience the movie doesn't care enough to bridge.

So... yes... interesting documentary, but nothing compared to what it should be.

(Note: the video below isn't for this documentary... it's from a far more interesting sounding one relating to Ferran Adria.)